Some blogs are diaries – personal revealing and making you feel you have been invited into the interior of the author’s life. Others are more like almanacs – filled with useful information and resources. Pointing you to other people and places. I’m more like the latter. But sometimes you can blend the two and I want to point you to a wonderful example of the diarist who draws you into the interior of his life.

Such is the case here. This is a short excerpt from David Wayne (jollyblogger.wordpress.com) a pastor in Baltimore Maryland wrestling with God and cancer. “I have tried to play the good soldier in my battle with cancer but have secretly nursed a grudge at God and felt that He had given me the short end of the stick.” So he’s up at 3:45 in the morning writing.

I think it’s time to say goodbye to the Christian industrial complex the evangelical hype and marketing machine that promises life change every Thursday and promises that you yes you and me yes me can change the world. Hogwash. None of us is required to change the world for Christ Christ has changed the world permanently none of us can do anything about it. Everyone wants to change the world no one wants to do the dishes or take out the trash. I would trade every kid who takes a mission trip to change the world for one who would stay home and clean his room treat his brother like a human being and help mom around the house without being asked twice. Changing the world is easy the latter is harder and far more Christlike.

He’s so right! I’ve put it another way. I believe God is just as interested in our living out what I call the “Good Commission” of Thessalonians as He is in our fulfilling the “Great Commission” of Matthew. In 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 the apostle Paul says “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life to mind your own business and to work with your hands just as we told you so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” We are awash in messages from books pulpits speakers and seminars about being active and purposeful significant and influential but that is not what Paul is describing here. Even though his own life as a pioneer evangelist was marked by unusual intensity his advice to the churches was not to “get all excited” or even to focus on “winning souls” but to make it their ambition lead a quiet life that would win the respect of outsiders.

We don’t hear that today do we? No one wants a quiet life or to be content with the work of our hands. We want to “make a difference and change the world.”

Let’s be careful about being drawn toward either constant adventure or navel gazing. Instead let’s focus on what Paul describes in Ephesians as becoming mature and examples of changed lives – even if we don’t change the world.